back in the raw

after a month of halloween candy and turkey and nanowrimo induced meals and mcdonalds... i've had a little cold for about two weeks and since doctor chaz told me that sugar lowers your immune ability when you are sick, i've been really vigilant about my diet the last few days. i've been eating raw as much as i can, but the most important part was chaning my lunch. instead of a smoothie every day i am now having about 12 ounces of raw juice. i've already lost 3 pounds in three days. (that may just be from cutting out the smoothies.) but i also feel like i have more energy, even thought i'm still sick. i find it much easy to get up in the morning. today i hit the snooze for 15 minutes instead of an hour. which is good because i am going to go to work early and stop to buy carrots on the way. i'm also hoping all the vitamin A in my carrot juice will help with my skin, which has been shamefullly bad lately (been sporting a beard of bee stings look)

i've mostly been having juice of carrot, celery and ginger. yesterday i included an old orange i had, that turned out to be a beautifully pink blood orange.




yesterday i stopped by the farmers market and got some beet greens and kale. althrough i dont think i'd get much of any juice out of the kale without a masticating juicers so i'd better just eat it or dry it into chips.

my man has already whined that me being on a diet means he has to eat the bad food that he makes for himself :/ the challenge for me will be keeping up the diet on the 2 weeks i spend on vacation. but i think my parents have a juicer, so that should help. maybe i'd even get them interested in juice again.

kelp noodles

these are raw noodles! at first i tried them cold in a salad wrap and i didn't care for the texture. they were rubbery, even crunchy, with a slightly weird taste. but i recently gave them another try in a warm miso soup. this softened them up and covered any taste. they are now much like bean thread "invisible" noodles.

one of my favorite new supermarket discoveries.

These brands of sprouts are so convenient. my experience sprouting at home has been..okay, but it's tough to get the tiny ones like clover and alfalfa to work. I do better with the bug mung beans and lentils.

anyway, these sprouts are grown in hawaii and the bags of clover sprouts are only 1.49. of course this is more than paying for the seeds and sprouting them yourself, but a much better deal than other brands that sell a little plastic box of them for 5.49. I also like the peas in the mixed bean bag. that bag was a dollar more i think, but it lasted me about a week because i would just add the beans as a colorful and crunchy topping to other meals. adding interesting stuff to salads encourages me to go through the work of arranging them.

Zucchini Bread Smoothie

I saw this recipe because i am a fan of Blendtec on facebook. and they posted a link to a blog with this recipe.

http://edibleperspective.com/2011/09/change-is-good-so-are-recipes/

(scroll down past the bunch of pics of this lady's haircut...)

i had most of the other ingredients so i got a zucchini to try. i didn't follow it exactly, but the general idea was there. i added a little dried coconut, used buckwheat instead of oats, and flax seed instead of chia. i think i through in some psyllium to so it was very thick even without any ice. i've made it twice now (i knew i'd better use up the rest of the zucchini right away or i may never do it) the second time i added a little thinly sliced fresh ginger and some cardamon, and a frozen banana because i wanted a little more volume. i really don't taste much zucchini, but that's alright.


i think it is possible to make this totally raw if you make your own nutmilk (or just use water or coconut water) and use a raw honey for the sweetner. so then it's just zucchini, nuts, seeds, and spices. pretty good.

i didn't use any vanilla or protein powder and i went with soymilk for the liquid and agave for the sweetner. It really did resemble the taste of zuchinni bread batter and was a good use of a vegetable in a smoothie. It's one of those drinks that is less fruity and more of a creamy, protein, cookie milkshake taste (yum!) and i'll probably make it again sometime

Ode to a watermelon.

We got a quart of a melon last month that was just tops. for some reason it was the best melon i've had in some time. and that's a little surprising for produce imported to the middle of the Pacific. Anyway, it was very sweet and full of flavor.

Stars!

well i've been a terrible blogger for quite some time, but i hope to remedy that.

When i saw bags of starfruit at the farmers market, i went for it. who can resist that awesome shape that looks so tropical.



i dont think i had ever had them before. I think i expected them to be somewhat tart, like a kiwi.
the real taste was blander than i expected. the thin skin is edible and the flesh has the texture and juiciness of a firm grape, but a taste like.. apples?



a few sliced stars of this was all i cared to eat. so i had an idea for the extra. I dont have a dehydrator anymore but i do have an oven. i put the stars on a baking sheet with tin foil on it. i turned the oven on low for a while, then turned it off, repeating this for a few days. i left it off at night and when nobody was home , of course. so there is low heat and a dry area. not really much air circulation, but at least if it is closed up the ants that patrol this house can't walk away with my fruit.

i do prefer the starfruit dried. it makes it sweeter, but it is still pretty mild and it's now mostly skin. i think there are much better things to dry, but at least i gave it a try.

Banana Brothers

Bananas don't only come in singles. You usually don't see these in a store (if you do it was an accident that they got there) but bananas can grow together as twin or triplets or maybe even more!

Chinatown

we went to Chinatown in Honolulu a few weeks ago, so it's about time i talked about it. the raw highlight was eating a freshly opened coconut! I'd had coconut water in a can before (the sweetened kind sold in Asian grocery stores sometimes) and it was barely natural and too sugary. a lot of people are now into coconut, unsweetened, in cans or aseptic containers. some with flavors or fruit bits included. It it said to be more re-hydrating that water, a good balance of electrolytes, thus making it good during or after exercise. And in WWII coconut water had been used as alternative blood plasma because it is sterile.


the kind you buy off a shelf must be pasteurized and thus not raw, but i do see it included in raw cook books for people that have the availability of coconuts and the muscle to open them.

we'd been walking around in the hot weather and i'd only had that breadfruit for breakfast. my energy was flagging. we went into one shop and saw a cardboard tray on the floor with some coconut husks and a cleaver. we inquired and found that they could open a coconut for us.

we watched as an aging man hacked of the husk of our green coconut.




when he made a hole in the top we were given straws to drink out the liquid inside. the water was barely sweet, but really was refreshing.


after we'd drunk it all, we handed the coconut back to be split completely in two so we could eat the meat out of it. I'd heard that young coconuts, they kind used in raw restaurants for the water and sold in healthfood stores AND is de-husked to the point where it looks like a huge tan pencil tip.... visual please

these have the most water and their meat is supposedly jelly-like in softness. over time, more of te meat hardens, and the there is less water in the coconut. so the ones you can buy at the store that looks like hairy brown bowling balls are older and had hard flesh inside and almost no water. what we had in chinatown was somewhere in between.

the meat was softer and a thinner layer than in a fully mature nut. it was actually scrape-able with a plastic spoon, as opposed to having to pry/cut it out.it was a little rubbery and looked a lot like boiled egg white. a smooth even texture, not like how older coconut has the all the small fibers in the same direction. if that makes any sense. the husk around the inner shell was very wet and fresh.


it wasn't as sweet as the more mature, harder meat. but i still finished the nut.
it sure was a special treat and really hit the spot.



there were other produce to speak of, a few of which i had never seen before, at the many stores in Chinatown. here are some logan a.k.a. dragon eye fruit.




i've seen these at the kailus market too.



then Tamarind and ..something orange.



and i actually did buy one of these becauze i loved the name. i saw it called "egg fruit" and chicken yolk fruit" one cost about 75cents.



mangosteen, which i dont think i've ever had, and that's not a bad price for avocados. better than supermarket price



what? what? and what?



i thought you couldn't get rambutan's fresh outside of their homeland. Philippines maybe?




a beautiful rainboz of fish.





giagundo avocado. i think these aren't Haas. they are more round with a thicker skin, perhaps Sharwill?



The best price for Apple Bananas, well, other than free.





well, next i'll show you the dissection of an egg fruit.

Freshly Baked Breadfruit

during my third third trip to the farmers market i decided that i should try something new each time i go there (or at least once in a while) so this time i went for Breadfruit, which sounds delicious.

Breadfruit originally came from the Philippines and grows in many tropical locales.
the Hawaiian name for it is Ulu. i think it is related to durian and jackfruit and it has that same spiky rugby ball look.

this is the Hawaiian legend about its origins (taken from wikipedia):
According to an etiological Hawaiian myth, the breadfruit originated from the sacrifice of the war god Kū. After deciding to live secretly among mortals as a farmer, Kū married and had children. He and his family lived happily until a famine seized their island. When he could no longer bear to watch his children suffer, Kū told his wife that he could deliver them from starvation, but to do so he would have to leave them. Reluctantly she agreed, and at her word, Kū descended into the ground right where he had stood until only the top of his head was visible. His family waited around the spot he had last been day and night, watering it with their tears until suddenly a small green shoot appeared where Kū had stood. Quickly, the shoot grew into a tall and leafy tree that was laden with heavy breadfruits that Kū's family and neighbors gratefully ate, joyfully saved from starvation

the breadfruit of Tahiti also played a role in the famous Mutiny on the Bounty.

I know of three or four places that breadfruit grows in my town, including on tree on the street where i live.



this is my breadfruit from the farmers market. i think it cost $2.50

the fuit exudes a white stick sap when it is raw.



exetreme close-up!


the whole thing is made of many parts, i believe they're termed bracts, that have fused together.


the inner wooden-like core must be removed.


I tried it raw and the texture was a bit like creamy avocado but with inner fibers. it tastes a little like banana with a grassy aftertaste, but it is very unique.



know i know this is a raw food blog, but breadfruit is usually cooked. in fact i'm not sure if it is safe to eat a lot of it raw. some things, like taro, should be eaten raw. in the case of taro, it has calcium oxalate crystals inside that are like fiberglass that are neutralized when cooked. with the strange sap of breadfruit, i didn't want to chance it and cooked it. it seemed to ripen the day after i got it, from hard to almost squishy. like plantains it is eaten both unripe and starchy and sweet/ripe. in fact is is cooked in similar ways. it can also be made into chips like potatoes.

I followed the easiest recipe that said to microwave it in a bowl with a little water for 3 minutes or so then add butter to melt on the top. it was very yummy! and it really does have a texture like breaddough. it was less sweet after being cooked and the salt from the butter was a nice addition.


i dropped the raw goo from the other half onto a hot frying pan to amke fritters of sorts. i fried it on both sides like i do to plantains. it tasted a lot like sweet potato fries. :)



to up the savoriness we melted a little cheese on top. shh! ;D


overall i'd recommend that people try this, especially if you are a sweet potato fan. it was very surprising!

learn some more!



check out this helpful page. i didn't know there was a Breadfruit Institute:
http://www.ntbg.org/breadfruit/uses/food1.php


a more technical page with breakdowns of the varieties and the specific nutrient contents:
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/breadfruit.html#Food%20Uses

A millon uses! almost

Today my boss and i were discussing more sustainable containment options for acai bowls. they've tried other containers than the unfortunate styrofoam bowls, but they either fell apart, or let the acai melt to quickly. at the other location they have reusable bowls for people who want to eat in the shop. but we are going to start a B.Y.O.B. "Bring your own bowl" policy. people are welcome to bring their own bowls (if they are large enough) and we may even start giving a discount for people to do this.

anyway, during this conversation about containers i mentioned the pressed bamboo husk plates. My boss then proceeded to tell me about all they ways they use bamboo in Taiwan. (he moved to Hawaii 15 years ago, but is from Taiwan) they have many different varieties of bamboo there and of course eat bamboo shoots. but i also told me about an neat cooking method using bamboo. the giant type (is it Moso? that['s the biggest bamboo i've heard of.) they isolate a segment of the bamboo, with is still closed on both ends. they carve a lid into the side of the tube ( i imagine this is like opening a jack o' lantern :D ) and they rice and water are put inside and the bamboo is resealed and put on a fire.. the rice cooks inside and it imbued with the scent and flavor of the bamboo! id never heard of this before but it is interesting! i guess after you eat you can just put the bamboo back in the fire and burn it.

before there was fastfood style disposable chopsticks, families had to bring their chopsticks from home and back when they ate out. so inside they would cut some of the copious young bamboo and split it into sticks to eat with. They are clean and bamboo had no poisons or anything so they are safe. surprisingly, he told me they used bamboo in the bedding to keep cool in hot weather. i'm not entirely sure how it works, but the bamboo is used as a mat on top of the bed? so it is a little hard, but cooling. i dont know if it is the leaves of small grass or hard canes. same with pillows, stuffed with some part of the bamboo that stays nice and cool. other wise the canes are also made into light, sturdy chairs.


on the flip side of cultural education, my boss was surprised to hear that my mom would give use raw carrots alongside dinner. " you like carrots? do you eat them cooked or steamed? raw?!"

new taste

an experimental meal. let's call it "spaghetti nihon garlique".

it was simply shredded zucchini (from the farmer's market), tamari marniated garlic and seaweed salad. (both from tamura's deli) i added a little splash of soysauce and rice wine vinegar. the last ingredient may not have been an improvement. it was a little too sweet because the rice wine is "seasoned" which in this case means added sugar. so the zucchini ended up with a sweet/sour tast a little like apples. the garlic was strong and added some interest.

but i don't think i'll try this again.



This however, was a much tastier salad made from market ingredients

Kailua Farmer's Market

finally figured out where and when the farmers market is here. the good news is that it's all year round, but man, the hours they have it are a bit odd. i'm accustomed to markets being 6 hours or so in the middle of a saturday. but the market in my town is 5-7:30 on a thursday. i suppose it's nice for people who get off at 5, and since it's not friday they aren't rushing home to start their weekend... for me personally, i get off work at 3pm, so i just have to kill time until the market starts (but that's barely a problem.)


anyway, i went to the market which is in a covered parking lot downtown in a major shopping area. it was Bustling! there were a ton of people there. in fact i've read that you can even go there ahead of time and get the jump on the choicest items. you can pick out what you want early, but aren't allowed to actually purchase until the bell rings at 5pm. so it looked like about a third of the stalls were fresh produce from farms. another third was hot food, ready to eat (pizza, chicken, mexican food, bakery, abalone, ) the rest was flower stands and specialty items like roasted nuts, salsa, poi, dressings....)

my first time at the market i got a jicama, zucchini, some spinach (which turned out to be a bitter variety of "mountain spinach" )and a baguette for my man. i saw a bunch of items that i had heard of but have never tried, and then a handful that i have never seen or heard of before. and there were plenty of those apple bananas ( all under 1.50 a pound) Lots of leafy greens, bananas, papayas, avocados, summer squash

come, observe, see through my eyes:

a table from the farmer i seem to frequent most often. by the way, the farm tables are often set up in a U shape, and you shop while you wait in line (like i said, it was busy there). you slowly shuffle in the line past all of the produce and then by the time you get to the front , you are ready to pay.




???


this farm has a few select rarer items that are more native to the island.things i need to try : mountain apple, longan, breadfruit






is this a turnip? is it not?





some lovely herbs. everyone sells huge long bunches of green onions for a dollar and they last forever.


that's nice, everything gets a cubby

Blending for Dollars.

It's about time i told you about my new job! I work at a smoothie shop called Jewel or Juice. we make smoothies (duh) and Acai bowls. we have about 35 different smoothies, some healthier than others. Some flavors and a lot of unprocessed fruit in them, but others are mainly frozen yogurt and various flavorings.

The Acai bowls however are pretty darn special. I had never heard of an "acai bowl" before coming to Hawaii. i'd heard of acai because of it's new popularity as a "superfood" and the store i worked at sold it in frozen packs. it is a berry from the Amazon, it is small and dark bluish purple like a blueberry, but with a large seed inside.
our company website explains this: http://www.jewelorjuice.com/

and it is touted as having a ton of antioxidants and vitamins and amino acids and all that good stuff. in brazil the fruit of the acai is blended with apple juice and served with toppings. our basic blend has acai, banana, apple juice, and strawberry. (everything but the juice it prefrozen) it all blends in to a purple, creamy mixture that we top with banana, granola, fresh strawberries, blueberry , honey... it's pretty yummy!


other than the granola you are basically eating a bowl of condensed fruit and it is very filling. (our local competator adds ice to thin their mixture and then changes more for it. boo!)

many customers like to eat a bowl for lunch. some claim to feel more energized. :) i liken the taste of the blend to blackberries with less tartness. so when you add the sweet honey and crunchy granola, i suppose it's a bit like a frozen berry pie!

we have a few variations on the acai blend, including acerola, which is a whole different thing i could just explain in another post.

anway i am enjoying my job and the time goes by faster when we have more customers, so come in and have a treat!

the banana that is an apple

i have seen a few variations of bananas before.. plantains, fingerlings, red bananas (which i havent tried) but i hadn't heard of apple bananas until i moved to Hawai'i.

i actually saw them in the safeway first, and then a housemate brought home a huge bunch of short, green bananas.

he is a pest exterminator and a client gave these to him. i think they were having trouble with ants infesting the banana tree. anyway, he hung the to ripen outside.




these are apple bananas, also known as silk bananas, candy apple bananas, and latundan bananas.
their wiki page:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latundan_Banana

these were my observations: they are about half the length of the banana we are used to seeing, have a thinner peel. the smell i thought was a little "green and grassy" smelled like it wasn't ripe yet. but it obviously was.


although this website says i should have waited until the peel was black: http://www.specialtyproduce.com/index.php?item=2050

the taste was yummy. sweeten than other bananas. almost like it was banana candy flavored. :D but it was over in about 3 bites, so you'd better have two.


they have their own website! http://www.applebananas.com/ and claims they have "3 times more Vitamin C and 1-1/2 times more Vitamin A than your regular banana varietes" also they charge 40 bucks to deliver 10 bananas?! holy crap! so i guess the bunch our friend has is worth like $150. although i think that website is making up some scarcity inflation something. next time they are at safeway, i'll check on the price, but i think it was closer to $4 a pound, not 12.

i still don't quite get the "apple" connection, but apple bananas are delicious.

message from the rock!

I can't believe it's taken me so long to write this first post from my new home. The time just flies by and it's been almost 3 weeks here already. i actually didn't have a computer for about a week or so.

but anyway!i havent been too good about the diet yet. i have been eating pineapple and bananas and apples and grapes. sometimes i have steel cut oats for breakfast. no cooking, no blending, not even milk! i just soak them over night, drain off the water and add in a little peanut butter, agave, and dried date pieces. (or banana and some coconut butter!)




I did manage to bring coconut butter in my luggage. on the first day here we toured the town and i went to the natural foods stores. i bought some mung beans to sprout. here they are in a cup from my flight on delta airlines :)



one problem is i dont live very close to the health food stores. at safeway they have pineapple and papaya for pretty cheap but other wise there isn't a lot of local produce :(
i was really hoping for avocados, but they are 2 bucks each and from mexico. hopefully if i find a farmers market i will have better choices.

i miss not having the dehydrator to make some things.

it's hard not to just eat the things that my boyfriend eats, namely wheat and beans and variations on that theme.

what i like best about being here is the warm, beautiful water, the amazing plants, and the birds and lizards everywhere. actually i have the front door open and a dove just poked its head in to look at me.

i'm still looking for work. i have interviewed at a smoothie bar. and they have something here in hawaii that i've never seen before, and acai bowl. like they pound the acai berries and add yougurt and other fruit. i haven't had one yet but it sounds very good for you. my friend sue tried one while she was in honolulu and said she could eat one every day.

more coming soon i promise. for now a beach picture: